Thanksgiving Turkey

Andrew made this apple-turkey at preschool today. Within seconds, the gummy bears were gone. The apple didn't go as quickly. He sure had fun making it, though.



I was helping Andrew take a shower tonight and when we were all done, we went to look for the rest of the family so we could have family prayer. We found Bethany and Dan asleep on the couch. It was so cute. Bethany has had a little cold with a sore throat, so she was probably just ready to go to sleep. I hope she is feeling better in time for Thanksgiving.

Reflections Winner!

Today Bethany won an Award of Excellence for her entry in the school Reflections contest. She entered in Musical Composition. She was the only entry from the whole school to enter Musical Composition! So, I guess she was the winner by default. I think maybe I'll be adding a composition unit for all of my students next year...

Anyway, when I suggested to her that she enter, I told her the theme and she went to the piano. Five minutes later she had her song all written out: "The Cat is Flying." It was really cute and original. I showed her how to write it out on the staff and she did all the work herself. Then we recorded her playing it and burned it to a CD (Dan helped with the technical stuff.) Dan was going to help me post the song on my blog but he went to bed early, so I'll have to figure it out later. Even though she was the only entry, I think she definitely deserved her win! Way to go Bethany! She gets to send her entry to the State Reflections contest where, hopefully, she'll have a little more competition. We'll see!

p.s. Sorry the picture is so blurry and dark. I'm not sure why; our camera usually works pretty well.

Why I don't practice much anymore

The question is, which one has the most potential as a concert pianist? Who knows...

At least I have a nice piano (despite all the fingerprints, it really is a nice piano, thanks honey!) Wish I could play it a bit more than I do.

Look Who's One!

I cannot believe my baby is one already! It seems like I blinked and the year just flew by. Jorgen is already acting like a toddler in so many ways. He is REALLY close to walking! He's decided to ditch his bottles already, except for the bedtime bottle. He babbles non-stop in his own baby language. Some of the words he says (or at least they sound like words) include: dis (this) dat (that) baba (bottle) dada, mama, look, and tickle.

Jorgen is such a happy baby. He is always smiling! He loves to laugh and to be laughed at. He has the cutest belly-chuckle.

The light coming in his room this morning was really nice, so I took a few shots:


Apparently Andrew still thinks it is Halloween, hence the Spider-Man costume. Andrew was feeling left out that his birthday isn't until March. It's hard to watch your sister and brother have a birthday and have to wait so long for your own!


Jorgen will not take any other binky than this green newborn one they gave us in the hospital. We have tried every other brand, but he will not take them. I hate these binkies because they get lost so easy - when he drops one it rolls about 20 feet away and is impossible to find! We've lost several at church, one at the Pumpkin Walk, numerous in the van (they must still be there, but I can't find them), so we end up buying more - and they only come in newborn size, nothing bigger. He really doesn't need them except for sleeping - he won't go to sleep without one in his mouth and one in his hand. One day I will get brave and get rid of them altogether.


Jorgen got really excited about the candle on his cake. Instead of blowing it, he wanted to grab it. So Bethany and I blew it out for him before he could burn his fingers.

Trying out the cake .....
He loved it! We had spaghetti for dinner, so his face is covered in spaghetti sauce and birthday cake. He grabbed the whole piece and shoved it in his mouth - must be a boy!

Opening presents....



My two engineer boys trying to put it together. I am such a bad mom! I forgot to get batteries for the toys, so they just had to play with the balls. It's supposed to shoot out. Man, I feel like a loser! Good thing he's only one and doesn't really care.


Like I said, I can hardly believe Jorgen is already one. We're so glad he's a part of our family!

Going Private

I think I saw the same report on the news as everyone else. I've been meaning to do this for awhile, just haven't because of laziness I guess. So, if you want to be able to read my blog, send me your e-mail address here or at Connie.Tiare@gmail.com. I don't think there are a whole lot of people who read my blog anyway, but it's probably a good idea to know who is reading it. Thanks!

A Week of Halloween Fun

Saturday (25th): Carved pumpkins
Bethany and Andrew drew their face designs on paper, then Dan helped them cut the faces. I was putting a grumpy baby to bed and missed most of it, but I got some pictures anyway.

Monday (27th): Made carameled apples (dipped in Skor bars!) YUM!!

Thursday (30th): Andrew's Preschool Halloween Program

Thursday still: Bethany's class party

Bethany and her friend Brena

Mummy-wrap game

Thursday still: Halloween Carnival at school

They got a donut for losing the cookie walk - winner got a box of cookies.

Friday (31st): Grandma Nay came with an early birthday present for Jorgen.
Thanks Grandma!
(check my blog next week for birthday pictures)

Friday still: Trunk-or-Treat at the church

Friday still: Quick dinner at Red Robin
Andrew didn't want his picture taken

Friday night: Home with all the loot!
In all the hussle to get to Trunk-or-Treat on time, I forgot to take pictures of the kids before we left, so by the end of the night Andrew's makeup was mostly rubbed off.

Even though Jorgen is almost 1, this was his first Halloween. He seemed to enjoy it. His favorite candy (that he is allowed to have) is suckers.

Hope you all had a great Halloween!

Happy Birthday to my little sis Eilene and to my friend Arianne. Hope you had good birthdays!